


take my pure heart and make it yours

by zapfinoo



Category: Proxy Series - Alex London
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, First Kiss, Fix-It, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Strangers to Lovers, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-20 15:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15536994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zapfinoo/pseuds/zapfinoo
Summary: “All Knox wanted tonight was to come here, maybe hook up with some random girl, and have some casual Friday fun. Instead, he’s flirting with his proxy in an attempt to hide his identity from him. Funny how life works out.”Or: what would’ve happened if Knox hadn’t crashed the car.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> uh idk man

 

It’s when Egan pulls out the obnoxious, retro outfits that Syd seriously considers backing out. He had thought about it ever since this morning when Egan asked him to come with him, sure, but now he’s really starting to get nervous about this whole thing.

He can’t believe he ever agreed to going to this party in the first place. Seriously, what will he do there except for being his friend’s Chapter 11 sidekick? What’s in it for him? He feels bad for thinking that way, but still. Also, what if they get caught? It’s illegal for them to be there, and he really can’t afford more debt right now, not when he’s so close to being free.

“So, just put this on, and we’ll leave right after. Sound good?” It might have, actually, if Syd hadn’t had such a bad day today. He realized that he probably won’t be able to help that kid, Tom, which really sucks. Oh, and he got outed by that stupid EduCorp wordworm to almost every single person at school, so there’s that too.

Even though the idea of an Upper City party scares him, it might take his mind off of things, so he gives in and says, “Sure.”

 

Ten minutes later and they’re on their way. Egan slapped on some kind of patch right before they left, and it’s starting to take effect already—he’s stumbling and laughing at nothing. It looks like Syd’s going to have to fend for himself tonight, apparently.

 

“We’re here!” Egan announces, and Syd snorts. As if he didn’t know. The booming music coming from the place is a bit of a giveaway, it’s heard all over this neighborhood. Not to mention the enormous crowd of people coming in and out of the building.

“So, who’s selling the IDs?” Sy asks before they get inside—something tells him that it’ll be pretty difficult to hold a decent conversation in there.

Egan stares at him for a second like he’d forgotten about the most crucial part of this entire plan, but then his eyes seem to clear a little bit. “Oh, right! One second.” His eyes then twitch as he, presumably, messages whoever’s selling the fake IDs. Syd knows that they cost a Valve fortune, so he really hopes they’re not being scammed right now. Maybe he’s being paranoid, but it’s always a possibility.

“Alright, the guy wants us to meet him inside by the bar,” Egan announces. He already sounds a little too tweaked for Syd’s liking, and it’s only the beginning of the evening so far. Who knows what will happen tonight? “Let’s go show these rich kids some fun!”

 

As expected, it’s a madness inside. Egan told him earlier that this was supposed to be the party of the year, and that is probably exactly what this is—Syd can’t actually even imagine a party bigger than this one. It’s like they’ve entered a whole different world.  The floor is covered by a thick layer of smoke, and the movement of all the dancing people in the room creates small tornadoes at their feet. They’re playing some trippy remix of a pop song from many years ago, and the white, blinking strobe lights are almost blinding Syd. Then he spots all the cars in the back of the huge room; probably put there to create some sort of city-vibe. Yeah, it’s crazier than anything he’s ever seen before.

He feels Egan grabbing his arm, snapping him out of his trance in the process. “I know, very lux,” he shouts over the loud music as he leads Syd through the crowd. “Let’s get the IDs now so we can stay longer! Forever, even!”

Syd doesn’t know about forever, but he would definitely wanna stay for a while, at least.

They find the bar after a bit of looking around, and a very tall guy with a buzzcut spots them immediately and waves them over.

“Hey, I’m Nine. You guys want some ID, right?” Is the first thing he says to them. Egan nods his head a little too enthusiastically. The guy, Nine, smiles at this and taps the person standing next to him on the shoulder. “These boys could use some ID. Top of the line, they’re asking for, so I told them you’re the man.”

Syd can barely see who Nine is talking to, but then the new guy turns around.

“This is Knox,” Nine states. Syd turns to get a good look at him, and— _oh_. Practically everyone in the Upper City is pretty, that is basically common knowledge, but this boy is something else. His eyes find Syd’s, and he can’t help but notice how incredibly _green_ they are. Not the artificial kind of green that some biotech doctor created with a piece of code, though—they are natural and it’s obvious. His clothes and his smooth, perfect skin are all indicators of great wealth and that he is probably a shallow brat like the rest of the kids in this city. But the fact that his eyes are natural speaks to Syd, somehow. To him, it shows that this Knox guy isn’t completely made of plastic.

The boy with emerald eyes seems very taken aback by Syd, for some unknown reason. He can read a lot of emotions on his face, though: surprise, recognition, and—is that fear? Syd desperately wants to ask him about it, but he’s way too nervous to talk to a guy like this. Any guy, honestly, but especially beautiful Upper City ones who are so out of his league that it hurts.

“Knox, this is...?” Nine trails off when he realizes that he doesn’t know their names yet. Egan steps forward and introduces them, but Syd can’t really focus on what he’s saying. He is still having a silent staring contest with Knox, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it. The guy is probably tweaked out of his mind, because he’s looking at Syd like they know each other, and Syd is one hundred percent sure they don’t. Weird.

 

☽

 

The kid who looks exactly like everyone else in here introduces himself to Knox, but he can barely hear him.

Sydney Carton is here.

His proxy.

His _proxy_ , of all people.

Knox panics, and it feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest. What is Sydney doing here? How did he find him? What does he want? Has he come to get revenge?

The proxy is looking at Knox with a shy smile, and, frankly, it’s pretty cute. But that can easily be faked. He probably knows exactly who Knox is, and he’ll strike when they’re alone. Torture and kill him, maybe. It happens to patrons occasionally. He won’t let it happen to him, though.

Knox watches as Nine gives the two boys their IDs, and they slap them on without hesitation. Sydney’s friend immediately starts chatting with the girl closest to him while the other boy quietly stands next to them, looking unsure of what to do. This is Knox’s chance.

“You can’t be here.”

Sydney looks taken aback, maybe even a little hurt. Maybe he’s just good at acting? “Why not?”

“Because you’re...” Knox realizes that he can’t reveal himself as Sydney’s patron in case he actually doesn’t know about it, so he plays another card. “You’re from the Valve!”

He looks straight up annoyed now, and it pisses Knox off. “Yeah, well, you probably make tons of money off of guys like me, so why do you even care?” Knox realizes that he’s not faking. Sydney actually has no idea who Knox is. The obliviousness plastered all over this face just can’t be faked.

Knox considers his options. He can’t call security because Nine already gave Sydney the fake ID, and if he doesn’t know that Knox is his patron, then what’s the worst that could happen? Knox’s anonymity is still intact, and that’s all that matters. Calling security and causing a scene right now would be too suspicious.

“You’re right, I don’t care.”

“What’s your deal?” Sydney asks, completely out of nowhere. This guy seems to always have a snippy reply right up his sleeve.

Knox has kind of always wanted to meet his proxy. To talk to him, apologize for all the useless things he’s done that got him shocks with an EDM stick, maybe even to get to know him a little. But now that they’re face to face, he has absolutely no clue what to say. It’s not something that happens to Knox often. So he just settles for raising his eyebrows, hoping Sydney will explain.

“I mean, you looked at me like I was some sort of threat back there. What was that about?” Damn, Knox was hoping that would go unnoticed.

He’s completely out of his depth here, so he decides to do what he does best.

“Nah, I just thought you were kinda cute. Something wrong with that?” Knox winks and tries to play it cool, hoping it’ll make his proxy forget about the fear in his eyes when they first saw each other, since it is a potential giveaway.

To his surprise, Sydney actually ducks his head and _blushes_. “I guess not.” _Oh_ , so that’s how it is. Okay then.

All Knox wanted tonight was to come here, maybe hook up with some random girl, and have some casual Friday fun. Instead, he’s flirting with his proxy in an attempt to hide his identity from him. Funny how life works out.

“What was your name again?” Knox obviously knows his name better than anyone, but Sydney can’t know that.

“Syd.”

“Just Syd?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, Syd. Wanna get tweaked?”

  



	2. Chapter 2

They start with something mild that Simi gives them. It’s a small, transparent patch with a neon green outline. Knox puts it on his hand first, and Syd follows his lead. Syd explains to him that he’s not very keen on doing any heavy drugs these days because of his friend (Eric? Evan?) who is addicted. A lot of kids in the Valve are, apparently.

Knox smiles at his proxy and turns his charm up to the max. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” 

Syd, whose patch is obviously already starting to affect him, punches Knox lightly in the shoulder and scoffs, but he’s grinning back. 

Knox closes his eyes as the pleasant, familiar rush kicks in. Everything feels better when he’s intoxicated—he can finally stop thinking about his dad and the fight they had this morning. It suddenly feels so far away, like it’s somebody else’s problem. Now he’s able to only focus on the good things; the party, the music, and the pretty boy standing next to him. That boy might be a proxy from the Valve, but he finds himself not caring about that anymore. He silently thanks whoever created these patches, (because, well. Syd is  _ really  _ cute).

When he opens his eyes again, Syd’s friend is standing in front of them. What the hell did he say his name was?

”Syd, my brother! Having fun?” Syd opens his mouth, but his friend doesn’t give him time to answer. He spots Knox and says, “Ah, I guess you like them dumb  _ and  _ rich?” 

Knox gives his proxy a questioning glance. There’s a long story behind what he’s saying, that’s for sure. Syd looks away. “Shut up, Egan.” Right, that’s what it was. 

“What? I see you moved on! No more Atticus Finch! That’s good, he was too much of a jerk anyway.” This guy is seriously glitched right now. Knox almost feels bad for him—he probably won’t even remember any of this tomorrow. 

He looks at Syd. He is blushing again, so maybe what Egan said wasn’t so crazy after all. 

Syd gives his friend a look that can only be interpreted as a warning, and Egan laughs hysterically, disappearing once again into the sea of people. 

They are alone again, so Knox puts a hand on Syd’s shoulder and starts making circular movements there with his thumb. “Rich, huh?”

He has always found flirting as a fun, casual thing. He does it to everyone he feels vulnerable or insecure around, it almost works as a defense mechanism. It’s a way for him to protect himself from showing his actual feelings. Nothing else. 

Syd leans into his touch. “You wish. No, ignore him, he’s not making any sense right now.” Maybe so, but Syd’s flushed cheeks give him away. 

Knox shrugs. “Okay. Wanna dance with me?” 

Syd looks at him like he’s gone completely out of his mind. “Not really my thing.”

“So what?” Knox prompts, standing up from the barstool he was just sat on. He can’t sit still right now, not when he’s buzzing like this. So he takes both of Syd’s hands in his own and pulls him up so he’s standing too. “Come on. Just for a little bit?”

He thinks he can feel Syd squeezing his hand, but maybe that’s just the drugs. Or wishful thinking. “Fine.” 

 

Knox’s arms end up around Syd’s waist somehow, and Syd seems unsure of what to do with his own hands, so Knox takes them and puts them around his neck. 

Now they’re just slowly  _ swaying  _ on the middle of the dance floor, while everybody else is jumping up and down. It’s like they are in their own little bubble of affection and warmth, and it’s—it’s not unpleasant. 

He finds himself wanting to kiss Syd. It’s not like they’re gonna see each other ever again after tonight, right? He’s not even sure he wants to, in case Syd somehow finds out about what Knox actually is to him. So, they might as well have some fun before the night comes to an end.

“You’re good at this,” he whispers quietly, just for Syd, as they move together. It surprises Knox how incredibly intimate this is, and how much he actually enjoys it. 

Syd snorts at the praise. “I bet you say that to everyone.”

Knox does, honestly, but this time he actually means it. He tells Syd as much, and that earns him an eye roll and little smile. 

It still feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest, but now it’s for a whole different reason. 


End file.
